Washing machine appliances generally include a tub for containing water or wash fluid, e.g., water and detergent, bleach, and/or other wash additives. A basket is rotatably mounted within the tub and defines a wash chamber for receipt of articles for washing. During normal operation of such washing machine appliances, wash fluid is directed into the tub and onto articles within the wash chamber of the basket. The basket or an agitation element can rotate at various speeds to agitate articles within the wash chamber, to wring wash fluid from articles within the wash chamber, etc.
In certain situations, a user may wish to treat certain laundry articles before or after washing them in the washing machine appliance. For instance, a user may wish to spot treat a stain on a laundry article. Conventionally, to spot treat stains on such articles, users have had to transport the articles to another location away from the washing machine appliance, such as e.g., to a kitchen sink, or have had to use a separate spot treating device to treat their laundry articles. Transporting the soiled laundry articles to a different location or using a separate spot treating device to spot treat articles may be an inconvenience to users. Additionally, in some instances, stains may be difficult to see before or during a treatment operation. For instance, lighting conditions may be less than ideal, the stain or stains may somewhat blend into the article, and due to the material of some articles, it may be difficult to see if the treatment operation is actually removing the stain. Further, after treatment, the treated area may be difficult to inspect due to such conditions.
Accordingly, a washing machine appliance that includes a spot treating device that addresses one or more of the noted challenges would be desirable.